t
Seventy-Third Year
EDTED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS OF THE UlvIERSrrY oF MicHIGAN
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"Where Opinions Are rree STUDENT PUBLCATIONS BLDG., ANN ARBOR, MICH., PHONE NO 2-3241
Truth winl Prevai"'
Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers
or the editors. This must be noted in al reprints.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1964 NIGHT EDITOR: GERALD STORCH
P'icketing Newspapers:
Is it Justifiable?
Safeguard .. Threat. .,
EAST LANSING chapters of civil rights PICKETING IN ITSELF is a neutral de-
groups have recently picketed the vice: it is used by groups with varied
Michigan State News in protest of an objectives against groups, individuals or
editorial which they felt was favorable to institutions.
Alabama Gov. George Wallace. However, the act of picketing is infused
The editorial itself said very little out- with ethical connotations; these depend
side of the empty opinion of the writer on how and why the picket is used. Gen-
that Wallace is a gentleman and sincere erally, picketing is ethical when used to
in his beliefs. The opposing opinion is further basic civil freedoms or in collec-
that he has profited from the consensus tive action by workers for economic equi-
in his state by adopting hard segregation- ty. Generally, it is unethical when used
ist views and that sincerity, if practiced against these basic freedoms or used to
long enough, can fool young girls from promote a narrow, selfish interest.
student newspapers. These guidelines are, however, not hard
and many pickets fall into an ethical grey
WHETHER OR NOT the gripe of the civil area. But because of the important con-
rights groups was legitimate, these notations and effects of picketing, it is
groups had a right to express themselves necessary to consider the ethicality of
by picketing. any picket.
Letters - to - the - editor columns, al- Unfortunately, in the enthusiasm for
though open to members of the civil rights direct action by many civil rights groups,
organizations, can hardly convey the distinctions are not drawn and useless or
weight of opinions that the rest of the unethical pickets occur.
newspaper can. It is merely upholding the
accepted freedoms of expression to allow ONE SUCH UNETHICAL picket occurred
any group to express further their views Wednesday in East Lansing when two
by picketing in a peaceful manner. local civil rights groups picketed the of-
fice of the Michigan State News, MSU's
Moreover, this expression should not be tuentnewspape.T ew sting
student newspaper. They were protesting
viewed as unfair coercion or pressure. an article and editorial that tried to por-
Certainly a paper must be free of political ardyeAitomil . G aorgedtocpos-
.or economic control if its columns are tray Alabama Gov. George Wallace as a
man affected by his environment, rather
to express an accurate and clear view of a ,,l
the day's events; but this argument ha"devil."
should not be distorted to the point at This picket struck at the heart of free-
which newspapers are allowed to operate dom of expression-the same freedom on
which the picket itself was based. If
A newspaper, whether a member of the the newspaper is to serve as a forum for
commercial or the student press, should the exchange of information and ideas in
be subjected to the opinions of the mem- a free, democratic society, it should not
bers of the population which it serves. If be subject to economic or social pressure
a group feels that a picket or similar for the news or editorial opinion it seeks
method is necessary to express its opin- to present. Picketing prevents the ideas
tons, then it should not be condemned for from being weighed on their own merit.
trying to influence the press. It is ironic that picketing-founded
As long as such actions do not impede on freedom of expression-is used to
publication, attempts to influence the hamper the very thing upon which it is
press should be tolerated. based. --PHILIP SUTIN
-MICHAEL SATTINGER National Concerns Editor
TODAY AND TOMORROW:
Talking Out Loud
< by Walter Lippmann
NIL EFFECT ON EDUCATION:
Campus Gives
Trimester A ' Rating
I
r.
By H. NEIL BERKSON 7
and KENNETH WINTER
THE UNIVERSITY'S new calen-
dar was launched last fall amid
widespread prophecies of disaster.
Many people-students, faculty1
and even some administrators -1
sincerely concerned with the
course of education here felt the
University was trading intellectual
excellence for mass production.
It was a reasonable prediction.
The shortened term, the loss of
Christmas vacation and the halved
exam period seemed destined to
maximize tensions and replacei
,hinking with cramming.
Whatever the predictivea
theories, the acid test of the newa
calendar is its effect on the mem-
bers of the University community
-those who must live with it. No
amount of efficiency achieved can
justify a measure which under-
mines education itself.
* * *
WE NOW have it from theser
people themselves: the trimester
passed this acid test with flying
colors.<
If The Daily's survey of campusi
opinion, as reported in the last1
four issues, is valid, the new cal-
endar is extremely popular. Fully
99 per cent of the freshmen, al-R
most 90 per cent of other students1
and more than 75 per cent of the
faculty members polled prefer theI
new calendar. A substantial per-
centage of all groups say they;
"strongly prefer" it to the old se-,
mester plan. I
Moreover, University officialsI
have insisted all along that theI
discontent which did occur simply1
Show Iiz
THE FOLLOWING took place at
an interview:
John Lennon, 23, George Har-
rison, 21, Paul McCartney, 21, and
Ringo Starr, 23, appeared chew-
ing gum. The following exchange
between them and the press took
place with McCartney doing most
of the talking.
Where did you get the name
Beatles? I thought of it. Why?
Why not?
To John Lennon: What is your
wife's reaction to your popularity?
She likes it.
Do the boys fight among them-
selves? Only in the mornings. Did'
you come to America in a spirit
of revenge? No, we just came to
make money. How long will the
Beatles last? As long as you keep
coming. 1
What do you think of President
Johnson? We have not met him.
What do you think of criticisms
that you are not very good. We're
not. Is one disc jockey more im-
portant t h a n another? Disc
jockeys are all as important as1
each other. Is there any chance
of your being knighted? No. What
are you going to do in Washing-1
ton? Sleep. Are you afraid ofj
mobs? No, we enjoy them. What1
is your most exciting experience?
Meeting the Queen Mother.
* * *
A BRITISH correspondent re-
calls that he is unable to leave
his London television studios Fri-,
day nights because of densel
crowds of moaning women outside
waiting for the Beatles, and he
recalls the words of a doctor who
said this sort of activity was im-
portant for young women because;
it made the pains of pregnancy
easier for them when they grew
up and got married.
-The New Republic
reflected problems inherent in
any change, and that complaints
will disappear once the transition
is complete.
A comparison of the above fig-
ures seems to support this view:
those who had lived longest under
the old calendar, the faculty, were
least enthusiastic in backing the
trimester; the freshmen, never
having known a college semester
and therefore feeling no change-
over pains, united almost unani-
mously behind the new schedule.
* * *
ALL OF WHICH is very neat-
if the survey is valid. But do the
opinions of the approximately 350
people answering the three ques-
tionnaires really reflect those of
the campus?
No statistical attempts were
made to test the accuracy of our
cross-section of the University.
But there are several points in its
favor:
-Responses to mail question-
naires usually are around 50 per
cent. The only Daily survey below
this level was that of the faculty,
at 48 per cent; the student and
freshman polls drew 56 and 73
per cent, respectively.
-The wide range of written
comments from respondents in-
cluded virtually no criticism of
the questions themselves, indicat-
ing they were well-understood and
acurately answered.
-People who are unhappy with
a particular measure generally are
more likely to respond to question-
nalres about it. This means that
most surveys of this sort are
biased toward the "con" side. If
this happened in The Daily's sur-
vey, the campus favors trimester
even more strongly than our re-
sults indicate.
--Finally, the lopsided vote fa-
voring the trimester leaves a wide
margin for error. Even if The
Daily's sample somehow hit a dis-
proportionate number of optimists,
it would have had to be pretty far
off to invalidate such a strong ex-
pression of opinion.
IT'S ALMOST certain, then,
that the campus likes the new cal-
endar. But, again, the real criter-
ion is not trimester's popularity
but what it does to education at
the University.
Here the simple semester-vs-
trimester preferences are not con-
clusive; they don't tell why people
like the new system. Answers to
other questions, however, do shed
some light.
The most popular features of
the new calendar-with students
Especially - are the "convenience"
items, particularly the study-free
Christmas break and the prospect
of getting out early this spring. On
educationally - oriented questions
("How well do you feel you mas-
tered your courses last fall?"),
both students and faculty gave
mixed responses. In fact, the tim-
ing of the survey - right after
vacation, when people are fairly
relaxed and refreshed - may ac-
count for some of the applause
the trimester received.
On educationally-oriented ques-
tions, both students and faculty
gave mixed responses. Grades
stayed roughly the same, as did
incompletes. More importantly for
actual education, both students
and faculty feel that courses were
mastered about as well under the
new calendar as previously.
* * *
MOST LIKELY, then, the net
effect of the new calendar on Uni-
versity education was virtually nil.
Thus, we may reply to the proph-
ets of intellectual doom: the Uni-
versity has succeeded in setting
the stage for more efficient use of
its facilities -- without selling its
educational soul to the devil.
We can never be sure, and
should nevernbe smug. From a
longer perspective, the new calen-
dar may indeed be another al-
most-imperceptible step toward
an even more impersonal, assem-
bly line University. If this per-
spective is correct, trimester is in-
deed a disaster.
But from any perspective, The
Daily survey's facts are too strik-
ing to ignore. Those who still
would defend the campus from
trimester must now be prepared
to defend the campus from itself.
I
"They Have This Wild Idea That Tho- Hous.Of
Representatives Should Be Representative"
a -_
_
20-80 FORMULA
Michigan Reapportionment: The Facts
By MICHAEL HARRAH
PERHAPS half the current argu-
ment over the apportionment
of the state Legislature stems
from the fact that very few peo-
ple understand it yet everyone has
an opinion on it.
First of all, a definition: appor-
tionment is the name for the di-
vision of a unit into representative
districts. In the case of Michigan,
there are three current apportion-
ments: the 19 Congressional dis-
tricts; the 38 state senatorial dis-'
tricts; the 110 state representative
districts.
In the case of the Congressional
districts, the total number allot-
ted to Michigan is determined by
the federal census every ten years.
In Congress, the House of Repre-
sentatives has 435 members. This
total is unchanging, fixed in the
federal Constitution. Thus, every
ten years, Congress divides up
these 435 seats between the 50
states, giving one seat for every
sd many people. (That number
is currently about 425,000.)
The states themselves are then
left with the task of determining
how the seats shall be filled with-
in their own borders. In most
states, the Legislature divides the
state .nto districts, each having a
roughly equal number of people,
and each district elects one rep-
resentative. The recent Supreme
Court decision has assured that
all states will be divided up into
equal districts population-wise.
THE apportionment of state
legislatures, however, is another
matter. First of all, it is not a
problem which concerns the fed-
eral government. Congress has no
jurisdiction over the size, the di-
vision or the selection of the legis-
latures and as yet the federal
courts have made no move to in-
tervene in matters concerning
state legislatures directly.
(A Supreme Court case several
years ago, Baker v. Carr, ordered
Tennessee to reapportion its state
house of representatives, but the
high court made no attempt to tell
it how to do so or actually to do
the reapportioning. Moreover, the
court was simply enforcing a
clause in the state constitution
which required the state to be re-
apportioned every ten years, and
Tennessee had not done so since
1901.)
The matter of apportioning the
state legislatures, then, is left to
Lectures
PEOPLE HAVE now-a-days got
a strange opinion thatevery-
thing should be taught by lec-
tures. Now, I cannot see that lec-
tures can do so much good as
reading the books from which the
lectures are taken. I know nothing
that can be best taught by lec-
tures, except where experiments
are to be shown.
--Samuel Johnson
THERE IS INCREASING complaint
among newspapermen in Washington
about the fact that they do not have ade-
quate opportunity to question President
Johnson about foreign affairs.
Naturally enough, they do not feel that
irregular press conferences on two hours'
notice give them the opportunity that
they need to do their job. This is a legiti-
mate complaint, and the White House will
have to work out some better arrange-
ment.
I must confess, however, that having
attended presidential press conferences
since the days of Woodrow Wilson, I am
sure of only one thing-that there is no
one wholly satisfactory way of conducting
a presidential press conference.
The format of the press conference
has to be tailored to the personality of
the president and to the general expecta-
tions of the time. A Kennedy press con-
ference was quite different from an Eisen-
lower, a Truman or a Roosevelt press con-
ference, and there is no reason at all why
President Johnson should feel any com-
pulsion to revive the Kennedy sort of
press conference.'
FOR MYSELF, I have always thought,
though almost none of my newspaper
colleagues agrees with me, that some con-
siderable part of a press conference-per-
haps as much as a third of it-should
be devoted to carefully-prepared answers
to written questions submitted in advance.
I do not think that the presidential press
conference should be set up as a quiz
show in which a lot of the fun is to see
whether the president has done his home-
work or is quick on the uptake or has a
thin skin. Even under President Kennedy,
who was a master of the quiz-show tech-
nique, the amount of hard information
was meager though the virtuosity of the
performance was dazzling.
It is that we are in the midst of a transi-
tion from the postwar period to another
period of which we can see only thedim
beginnings. The philosophy, the doctrine,
the ideology and the policies which were
created after the end of World War II
are now shaken by the changing condition
of the world.
Some very serious thinking will have to
be done in this country. Most of it will
probably have to be done first outside of
official circles. But there will have to be
continually some rethinking inside official
circles.
THE CONDITION of world affairs which
compels us to reexamine our policies
was developed under President Eisenhow-
er, and it became increasingly pressing
under President Kennedy. This was quite
evident before the President's assassina-
tion. Had President Kennedy lived, he
would be facing the same problems we
read about every day. They originate in
the fact that the United States is no long-
er the manifest leader of the non-Com-
munist world as a whole, nor even the ef-
fective and acknowledged leader of the
Western alliance.
We can be reasonably sure that the re-
examination will not and cannot be made
willingly by any administration which
does not feel itself so strong as to be
politically invulnerable. Thus, in 1953, it
was possible for General Eisenhower to
make a truce without victory in Korea be-
cause he, and he alone,. had the political
strength to prevail over General MacAr-
thur. President Kennedy never had that
kind of personal authority and political
power. He was always acutely aware of
how narrowly he had been elected.
PRESIDENT JOHNSON, who has not yet
been elected, is in no position to start
thinking out loud about the policies he
has inherited from his predecessors. So I
~-3--.4.- -,..4LL. h i.. ...:-i
the several states themselves. The
great bulk of states apportion
their their legislatures in two
houses, based on the federal Con-
gress. The lower house is divided
roughly into equal population dis-
tricts and the upper house is split
up into districts determined
through some combination of land
area and population.
However, this is by no means
universal. Nebraska has only one
house; Georgia makes no pre-
tense of dividing its legislature on
any population factor. Yet, how
the states divide their legislatures
is a purely internal matter.
MICHIGAN then becomes a
case in point. According to the
new state constitution, the Legis-
lature is composed of two cham-
bers: the Senate, which is split
up on an 80 per cent population--
20 per cent area formula, and the
House of Representatives, which is
divided fairly closely on a theory
of equal population.
In Michigan, however, the Leg-
islature is not responsible for ap-
portioning itself. A special, bi-
partisan commission, appointed
by the governor, is responsible for
this activity and in the event it
is unable to do so, the state Su-
preme Court must do it. The for-
mula for apportioning the state
Legislature is set down in the con-
stitution and both the commission
and the court must follow it.
* * *
AT THIS point, controversy
rages in Michigan over the appor-
tionment formula itself. Michigan
AFL-CIO President August
Scholle charges that it violates,
the equal protection clause of the
United States Constitution, and he
has filed a suit in federal court on
this theory. His position is sup-
ported by Michigan's Attorney
General Frank Kelley, but as yet
the court has not ruled onsthis.
So, for all intents and purposes,
Michigan's apportionment formula
remains legal until such time as it
is proven otherwise.
Under the present situation,
Michigan is without an official
apportionment for the November
elections. The apportionment
commission was unable to agree
upon a plan, and the problem now
awaits action by the Supreme
Court.
* * *
THE QUESTION now becomes,
how will the court decide? How
it should decide is obvious,as soon
will be shown; how it will decide,
of course, remains to be seen.
Under the apportionment of the
state House of Representatives
which has existed in Michigan
since 1952, the size of populations
ranges from 188,478 in the 21st
district of Wayne County, a seat
held by Rep. Paul M. Chandler
(R-Livonia), to 34,954 in an Upper
Peninsula district composed of
Gogebic and Ontonagon counties,
a seat held by Rep. Joseph S.
Mack (D-Ironwood).
In 1960, the federal census de-
termined Michigan's population to
be 7,823.998. Dividing this into
while 54 districts have quite low
populations. (The criteria here is
districts which vary more than
about 10,000 people from the
mean of 71,000.)
Of the 24 crowded districts,
Democrats and Republicans each
hold 12 apiece. Of the 54 sparsely
populated districts, Democrats
hold 35, while Republicans hold
19. Most of the low population
Democrat seats are located in
metropolitan Detroit.
In the Senate, under present
apportionment, there -are only 34
seats, ranging from 690,583 peo-
ple in the 12th district, represent-
ed by Sen. Farrell E. Roberts (R-
Pontiac) to 55,806 people in the
32nd district, represented by Sen.
Charles. O. McManiman (D-
Houghton).
In compliance with the new
constitution, four more seats will
be added to the Senate total, mak-
ing 38 districts in all. According
to the 80-20 formula, the size of
Senate districts legally can vary
as much as 20 per cent between
the largest and the smallest in the
state. In, other words, the popula-
tion in the largest can be no more
than 20 per cent greater than
206,000, the mean figure if all 38
senate districts were to be split
up evenly. By the same token, no
district may be more than 20 per
cent smaller than 206,000 people.
Thus, the population of the
largest district may not exceed
247,000 people, while the popula-
tion of the smallest district may
not be less than 165,000 people.
* * *
WHICH OF the present districts
do, in fact, meet the new re-
quirements and which do not? Of
the 34 now existing seats, 13 would
satisfy the new requirements. Re-
publicans hold 12 of these satis-
factory seats, Democrats only one.
Nine districts have too many peo-
ple: Democrats hold eight of them,
Republicans one. Twelve districts
have too few people: Republicans
hold nine. Democrats three.
Yet it is impossible to say how
the new apportionment, when it
is decided upon, will come out. It
is now in the hands of the state
Supreme Court, which is con-
trolled 5-3 by Democrats, yet this
could mean nothing or everything.
The 20 per cent factor on either
side of the median population of
206,000 leaves a lot of room for
variation, unlike the apportion-
ment of the house which must
hew fairly close to the mean of
71,000.
How the apportionment problem
in Michigan will be resolved is un-
clear, to say the least. The for-
mula for apportionment is itself
quite straightforward, but the lee-
way it allows the men who inter-
pret it could easily mean a shift-
ing of political fortunes for Mich-
igan.
LETTERS
to the
EDITOR
Half Slave And Half Free